It used to be that getting in a schoolyard fight meant a trip to the principal’s office—detention, maybe. But in Florida, more than any other state, that schoolyard fight can lead to the student’s arrest and even felony charges. Last year 12,000 students were arrested 13,870 times in Florida public schools, the Orlando Sentinel reported. The arrests are meted out unevenly. Black students are just 21 percent of Florida youth, but make up 46 percent of all school-related referrals to law enforcement, according to the Sun Sentinel.

The majority of the arrests, 67 percent, were for infractions like fist fights, dress-code violations, and talking back—schoolyard misbehavior that, in Florida and elsewhere, increasngly results in misdemeanor criminal charges. “The vast majority of children being arrested in schools are not committing criminal acts,” Wansley Walters, secretary of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, told the Orlando Sentinel.

While Florida is not alone in turning to police to discipline young people, it has the distinction of being the nation’s leader in school-based arrests. Last year, Florida produced the highest documented number of school-based arrests in the country—and that number was an improvement over previous years. In 2005, Florida made 28,000 arrests in school. It has logged a 39 percent drop in school arrests over the last seven years, according to the Department of Juvenile Justice. (PDF)

In most cases, 69 percent, the juvenile justice system ultimately dismisses or otherwise diverts the charges. But experts say getting hauled away from school in handcuffs nonetheless has a lifelong impact...

Race still a factor in public school arrests Queens Chronicle Hundreds —sometimes thousands — of teenagers jammed into a building who are expected to learn, grow and interact with one another in a civil matter.

What do you do when you have an elaborate project, assignment, or paper that needs to be quickly organized? Do you fire up Microsoft Word and whip up an outline? Do you pull out a pen and paper and start sketching?

From 2002 through the end of 2012, 787 black boys and men in Oakland were victims of homicide. During that same time, just 802 graduated prepared to attend either a California State University or University of California school.

This article quantifies the horrific truth. Here's another: In 2009, about 600 African American males began high school in Oakland. Four years later, about 80 to 100 were eligible to graduate ready to go to college.

'Bolster' black boys, but don't forget about black girls Washington Post (blog) Certainly a national focus on young African American males is overdue, particularly given their over-representation in the delinquency system.

A little girl growing up in Oakland, California climbs into the backseat of her mother's car and closes the door. As she fastens her seatbelt and answers her mother's questions about her day and what she learned at school, she looks out the window at a group of her classmates chasing each other around aggressively on the front lawn of her elementary school.

They are Black boys, and though Black boys don't make up the majority of the school population, they are at the front of the popular social order of their school. They have the coolest (or at least the most expensive) shoes and they're known by everyone. They're fourth graders but they swear and talk about sex. They know about a lot, except reading, basic math, and self-control. Some are even violent and it is common for adult teachers both male and female to be physically afraid of them. Yes, physically afraid of a fourth grader.

Of course, it isn't fair to pin these generalizations on every Black boy at the school, but it is applicable to a large enough majority of them to have a general expectation that is unfair, racist, and detrimental to their development -- yet tragically accurate.

Their state of ill-behavior and inability to perform academically is not their fault though. These boys have been birthed into a community under the boot of centuries of oppression and deliberate assault by it's government. Toppled with a cocktail of horrible or non-existent parenting and dangerous neighborhoods, they are in a state of subconscious and conscious trauma. This trauma manifests in their behavior and is greatly misunderstood and not acknowledged by the school system that measures and judges them.

"Blended learning is a relatively new concept with a mixed track record. Integrating certain types of technology into the classroom gives teachers and students real-time feedback so that each student can work at his or her own pace, and can give teachers accurate information that can help them better group students according to comprehension levels on a specific subjects. But educators point out that too often ed-tech focuses on improving test scores rather than on building creative thinking and a passion for learning in students and that schools still need passionate, innovative and dedicated teachers, no matter how kids absorb the content."

African-centered school creates successful FAMU alumni Famuan JL-NSCS tries to have an active approach to students learning the material including having them sing karaoke, Geuka said. “We want the children to be actively engaged,” he said.

In a piece at BlackAmericaWeb, Tonyaa Weathersbee examines the challenges of educating black boys in "a society dominated by forces bent on breaking them instead of nurturing them." She explains how building their self-esteem and staying involved...

To help black boys achieve greater academic success, writes Marian Wright Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund, at the Huffington Post, more support is needed from families, schools, churches, communities and government agencies.

African American Higher Ed Goals Addressed in Johns Twitter Interview Diverse: Issues in Higher Educatio As executive director for the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans, David Johns often utilizes social media...

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